Is Your Dealership Chat Software Up-To-Date?

Ever since it hit the market, dealership chat software has been changing how car dealerships across North America generate leads and cultivate customers online. Where dealership websites were once largely passive repositories of information, chat software has helped them evolve into active showrooms where sales professionals help customers do everything from check out inventory to submit credit checks and book test drives.

Chat software’s ability to generate leads out of web traffic has had a widespread impact on online automotive sales. It is now common to see a chat bubble pop up at the bottom of the screen when opening a dealership’s webpage, and dealerships that want to stay ahead of the game are looking at even more sophisticated ways of turning web traffic into business-generating leads.

A key element of lead generation has always been information collection — the more you know about what a customer is looking for, the better equipped you will be to help them find it. Traditionally, salespeople have collected that vital information simply by asking questions, and many live chat providers simply update this process for the Internet age.

But while engaging visitors in conversation and asking about their particular needs and desires will always be a central part of any sales interaction, the most innovative live dealer chat options utilize the power of Internet data collection to gain unparalleled insights into what a potential customer is looking for. Increasingly, competitive live chat providers are offering more than just an extension to your dealership’s sales team: they are providing insight into the shopping patterns of every person who visits your website.

One of the key pioneers of this new approach to live chat software is Florida-based Gubagoo. In addition to its ChatSmart software, which helps customers do everything from browse inventory to submit credit checks, Gubagoo has created a behavioural scoring algorithm to identify web visitors and profile them based on how the navigate a dealership website. This allows live chat salespeople to make suggestions and offer deals specifically designed to appeal to a particular individual based on their search profile.

Anticipating and meeting the needs of potential customers has always been an essential part of any good sales practice, and this feature of live chat software allows sales representatives to engage potential customers with an unprecedented degree of confidence. Not only does this drastically increase the likelihood that a visitor engaged through chat software will turn into a promising lead, it also increases the efficiency of the interaction, allowing a sales representative to engage more potential customers and generate more business.

The automotive industry is facing a great deal of uncertainty in the coming years, and experts predict that after a disappointing 2017, 2018 will see the second straight year of declining sales since the Great Recession. Selling cars has always been a competitive business, but now more than ever dealerships are turning to technological solutions to help them get ahead. Staying up-to-date on the latest live chat software is one of the most important ways a dealership canmaintain its edge over the competition.